A spirit that's big enough

Dec. 22, 2012

Written by

Dan Carpenter

So much prayer and talk of prayer in the aftermath of an unspeakably diabolical crime, and that is natural and good.

Yet we also would do well to remember how Jesus prayed -- off by himself where only God could hear -- and that he instructed his followers to do likewise.

Organizing public prayer as a means of shaping up society en masse, rather than heart by heart, is not held up as a promising measure in the Gospels. Nevertheless, and understandably, we gather together under the guidance of our spiritual and political leaders and raise our petitions for an end to the intolerable.

What is fascinating is to see commentators on both sides of the political debate over mass shooting incidents identify the core problem as a spiritual deficit.

In his recent letter to The Star, state Sen. Mike Delph told us why he lacks faith in gun laws: "This tragedy is more telling of the coarsening culture under which America currently lives. From violent video games that devalue and dehumanize human life to television and movies, popular culture must be an issue that is vigorously examined."

In another letter recently published in The Star, Sue Blackwell and Sister Norma Rocklage of the Catholic social justice group Pax Christi explained why they believe gun restrictions are necessary: "We have become a nation that accepts violence as part of our ordinary, daily existence. Our media, video games, sports, war, drones, hate crimes feed the cancer of violence toward one another. Slowly we are losing our moral core as guns continue to destroy the lives of our neighbors, family and community."

The two schools of spiritual thought each recognizes the complexity of man's inhumanity to man; neither has given up on the political system as a source of answers. A key area where they part company is in the latter's broader worldview, a perspective far more challenging than arming the good guys against the bad guys.

Children die everywhere, and they die by the thousands, from weapons and wars, hunger and disease, causes that are predominantly preventable and shameful. Prayer alone will not save them; but prayer that's worthy of being answered, private or public, surely must include them.

"This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men," the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his classic sermon on war in 1967. "This oft-misunderstood and misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life."